Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Throughout the electorate of Oxley, there are many fantastic local schools with dedicated teachers and students striving to do their best. Today I'd like to particularly acknowledge the Springfield Anglican College for two recent outstanding achievements; firstly, the extraordinary achievement of being ranked the No. 1 school in Queensland for OP results, with 64 per cent of the college's students receiving scores of 1 to 5 last year. I pay tribute to the college principal, Darren Pitt, who said that while the ranking was a pleasant surprise, the school staff and the teachers took the most satisfaction for knowing each student had worked closely with their teachers and support staff to achieve their potential. I'm proud to have a close working relationship with the Springfield Anglican College alongside the new state local member for Jordan, Ms Charis Mullen, who can attest to the hard work shown by school staff and students to achieve this fantastic result.

I was also proud to recently help unveil the school's newest piece of artwork inspired by the LOVE Sculpture and the HOPE Sculpture by internationally renowned artist, Robert Indiana. The new artwork, which takes pride in front of the school when entering the area, represents growth, community and celebration—a fitting testament to an outstanding school.

However, it is not all good news because, unfortunately, with the NBN crisis continuing to worsen in Oxley, more and more residents are being simply left behind. This includes the residents of Kauri Place and surrounding streets in Seventeen Mile Rocks. I joined them at a NBN street meeting last week to hear their frustrations at the mess that they have had to endure. With many homes having access to the NBN, residents of Kauri Place and other nearby streets, are stuck in an NBN black hole with no available connection. After first being promised by the Prime Minister that all residents would have access to the NBN by the end of 2016, it's just unacceptable that the crisis continues to go from bad to worse. As late as December last year, NBN Co were unable to give a time frame on when these local residents would receive a connection.

However, since the street meeting, I am pleased to say that the NBN Co, through an article in the local paper, have now committed to a time frame of connecting residents. Next month they will be assessed for their current speeds, with all residents to be connected to the NBN by the end of August. But it should not come as a surprise. It should not take a street meeting of local residents who have been let down by this Prime Minister and his second-rate NBN rollout to have their voices heard and their homes connected. As we know this week, if you live in Point Piper in a mansion, you get priority speed and priority service. And just yesterday, we saw reports in the Courier Mail that more Queenslanders will have slower speeds. It's not good enough, and I'll keep standing up for my local residents.